Perry Village Council to put income tax increase on ballot to combat tax credit initiative

By Simon Husted

Monday, July 22, 2013

This story has been edited to clarify a quote from Perry Village Councilman Michael Glover.

It won't be confirmed by the Lake County Board of Elections for a few days, but voters in Perry Village are likely to tackle two income tax issues Nov. 5.

The first ballot issue was created through a petition drive with 102 signatures gathered.

The second was approved Sunday at a special meeting of Perry Village Council.

The latest issue asks voters to increase the village's income tax from 1 percent to 2 percent in hopes of recovering revenue lost if the petition-driven ballot issue is approved Nov. 5.

The other ballot issue asks voters to reinstate a 100 percent income tax credit for residents paying 1 percent or more to the municipality in which they work outside the village.

The leader of that ballot initiative and petition drive, Tim Gandee, has said he wants the tax credit returned because council members in November 2009 unfairly eliminated it by passing an ordinance without necessary public input.

If the tax credit is restored, the village is poised to lose $239,683 a year, according to the Regional Income Tax Agency, which collects income tax for the village.

If residents vote to restore the tax credit and to increase the income tax, the village's income tax revenue would increase by $161,682 a year, though residents working outside the village would no longer be paying it. Residents working in townships would still be paying income tax because townships can't legislate an income tax rate.

Councilman Michael Glover said if both issues pass, the surplus could allow the village to restore services and repair neglected roads.

"It is my opinion that Perry Village has the lowest income tax rate in the county," Glover said, adding that only a couple other communities have income tax rates that match the village's 1 percent.

"Being in the fiscal straits that we have, I think you have to look at fairness of taxation. You got people making $50,000 who live in Perry and work outside the village paying 3 percent. They're paying $1,500 a year. You have someone who works in Perry and lives in the village and they pay $500 a year. It is my opinion we need to level the playing field and come up to the same standards as everyone else is using."

The six-member Perry Village Council needed to agree to the income tax increase on the ballot with at least five votes by Aug. 5.

Councilman Rick Walker was the only council member to cast a no vote Sunday. He said he disagrees on the timing to match two income tax related issues on the same ballot.

"The last two issues we had on a ballot at one time were very confusing to the voters and they just voted them both down because they were so confusing," Walker said. "I don't want that happening again. I want them to be informed."

Working to that idea, council is looking into possibly narrowing the Nov. 5 ballot to one issue, by restoring the 100 percent income tax credit on their own with an ordinance and nullifying the petition-driven ballot issue.

"Honestly, it is inevitable," Councilwoman Becky Shimko said of restoring the income tax credit. "We might as well take the first step."

Council members have scheduled another special Village Council meeting for 5 p.m. Sunday to discuss whether nullifying the petition-driven ballot issue is possible.

In other news, council members also reversed a decision made at their July 11 meeting to no longer post audio recordings of their meetings on their website, perryvillage.info.

Mayor Vicky Stevens told council members at that meeting that a man has been ripping audio files from their website, and reposting them on websites like Youtube in a distorted light using editing software.

Council President Phil Cassella said Sunday it would be wiser to have the audio recordings available on the website to reflect what really happens in case someone posts another edited audio recording using his or her own recording device.

No one on council, including Stevens, objected and recordings are slated to resume posting beginning with Sunday's special meeting.

"A couple of people have talked to me, and truly they think that people who are distorting a meeting in a town this big are crazy anyway," Shimko said.